An Open Letter to Nicole Arbour
Dear Nicole,
I'm not going to link to your content. I'm sure there are other sites that will promote it. Let me start off by letting you know that I'm not going to call you a bunch of names and wish death upon you because you have an opinion.
I'm not going to tell you to stop doing what you're doing or compare you to other women who make videos on the internet. Jenna Marbles doesn't have a monopoly on doing internet videos.
I won't even tell you to stop calling yourself a comedian.
I will say, "Hey! You're from where I went to school... cool beans!" But more importantly, I have to take you to task for hiding behind "satire". I don't believe there is some higher purpose for your videos outside of spouting off what's on your mind.
Come on, admit it, you got upset about people defending themselves and lashed out. There is little to no altruistic content in your videos. There doesn't have to be. I think everyone would be better off if you just admitted that this persona you are presenting is akin to Selina Kyle post Christopher Walken tossing her out the window.
You're the bad guy. At the very least you are playing the role of one and would rather affect the world by hurting people.
I saw that you cited South Park as a show that people probably get mad at without realizing it's satire. This is true, the problem is that the majority of the harsh humor and potentially offensive content comes from Cartman or characters who are to be considered the fool.
TL;DW? Basically, yeah you may have a couple people singing along with you and laughing, but anyone with a conscience realizes that you're not just hurling insults at theoretical people. Just like Kyle's mom's presence changed most people's tune in that scene, I would hope you just need to realize that you're actually being mean and hurting people.
Now before you hit me with the Seinfeld complaint, just know I don't think you should stop what you're doing. People getting offended that you went out of your way to create a 6 minute video, in the age of 5-6 second vines, to offend them "into shape" shouldn't surprise you. It shouldn't make you some kind of hero sticking up for comedy either though.
Why do I feel this way? I may be wrong about this, but, don't most people agree the best comedians are the ones who are personal? There's nothing inherently personal about your videos from what I've seen. You speak as if you're describing axioms as opposed to giving your take on any given situation. A nitpick, to be sure, but still an important distinction to make. People like to buy into the person who is delivering the comedy. Which means that you can't just hurl insults, you have to sell the idea that you stand for something... no, saying you love black choir women doesn't count.
Take Tig Notaro for instance. I would gladly listen to her make light of cancer for 30 minutes because I know she's working through something on stage. She can help people to laugh by sharing what happened to her during trying times. Even Amy Schumer can be a part of it by playing the Cartman/Fool, not by just telling people with cancer to buck up.
I get that being overweight and having cancer are not one and the same. I guess I just wanted to impress upon you that the personal experience Tig and even Amy had with cancer better served their comedy and relating to their audience. Watching your video made me feel like you don't know much about an overweight person's experience. It doesn't come off as personal, and therefore comes off as bullying or being malicious due to the lack of insight or personal experience displayed.
Forget the video, your overall shtick seems to be geared towards pushing buttons for the sake of seeming edgy. Which is fine I guess... but don't try to back pedal on that and claim to be doing this for the greater good.
Embrace your inner Cartman, there aren't a lot of female Cartmans... so that's trailblazing in its own right. But, remember, he comes as part of an ensemble that evens out his mostly evil intentions. Do you really just want to come off as malicious? Wouldn't you rather people like you as a person as opposed to someone who just picks on people for other bullies?
-YG